A comment about the $4000 guitar

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 23 Oct 2001 11:28 am

I read the posts about how expensive this instrument is/was and I think it addresses the issue of what I think is a misconception about what is wealth.

Is the $4000 or the guitar the real wealth?

Years ago I paid an exorbitant amount, at the time, for a lap guitar that had a lot of meaning for me. Essentially, I traded a pile of paper for what I considered to be an exquisite instrument. I can get more paper, in fact, everyone I see out there has money in their pockets. There is only one of these instruments with its pedigree.

Recently a very well known guitar player needed to borrow one of my vintage amps for an important concert. He had been trying to buy one and no one at the time, who had one, would sell it to him. So here's a guy with tons of money and he can't buy the amp he wants.

When I sit in my studio, I'm surrounded by the equipment that I've accumulated over the years and I submit that that is the real wealth. The money in my pocket is the tool that aquires the wealth, it is not in itself the wealth.

Jim Landers · Post by **Jim Landers** » 23 Oct 2001 11:49 am

Charles, you are exactly right. Good post.

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 23 Oct 2001 12:11 pm

Chas:

Jeff A. Smith · Post by **Jeff A. Smith** » 23 Oct 2001 2:09 pm

I think value is totally in the eye of the purchaser, and a seller is entitled to ask whatever the market will bear. I may not like the fact that a 1950's Les Paul that sold new for less than $300 would cost me $30,000 today. (These are just approximate figures, I don't keep scrupulous track of the vintage guitar market.) But I don't think I deserve the instrument more than the person who undergoes serious personal austerity to attain it, or the person to whom $30,000 is about like $30 is to me.

I haven't yet read the thread in question, but it reminds me a little of the Anapeg thread. After reading about those guitars and how much time and care goes into them, $6000 sounded pretty cheap.

ebb · Post by **ebb** » 23 Oct 2001 3:29 pm

it is also a nifty way to protect your assets from the next ex. ok judge she can have the gambang gamelan, the national triplex chord changer and one of the b3s
shipping not included

Jody Cameron · Post by **Jody Cameron** » 26 Oct 2001 5:10 am

Wow, Charles...very well put. I agree but could not articulate the thought like you did. Thanks.

Gary Harris · Post by **Gary Harris** » 29 Oct 2001 6:29 pm

Do you believe that a $30,000 guitar would help Willie Nelson sell more records? What about a $15.00 guitar?

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 29 Oct 2001 7:19 pm

Somewhere on TV, yesterday, Sunday the 28th of Oct 01, I saw where someone paid $14,000,000 for a fiddle........

Regards, Paul